With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

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With the coronavirus stats going in the right direction, all of us at C&G Newspapers look forward to resuming publication of the St. Clair Shores Sentinel and Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle on May 27th. All other C&G newspapers will begin publishing on June 10th (Advertiser-Times on June 24th). In the meantime, continue to find local news on our website and look for us on Facebook and Twitter.

Southfield day care shut down after worker allegedly stabs children with tack

ABC Early Learning Center, 29829 Telegraph Road, was shut down recently after a worker allegedly stabbed a child with a tack.

Photo by Kayla Dimick

Bikes sit inside a play yard at the day care.

Photo by Kayla Dimick

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SOUTHFIELD — The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs recently shut down a local child care center.

According to a news release from LARA, the child care license of ABC Early Learning Center, 29829 Telegraph Road, has been summarily suspended for violations “related to appropriate care and supervision, staff suitability, and accurately reporting incidents to the department.”

A summary suspension, LARA officials said in the press release, is an emergency measure in order to protect public health, safety and welfare.

The suspension resulted from multiple complaint-based investigations conducted by LARA.

During the investigations, LARA officials discovered that on two separate days, a staff member at ABC Early Learning Center harmed two different children by hiding a thumbtack between their fingers and making physical contact with the children. There was no verbal or written report by the licensee given to LARA about the two incidents when they occurred, officials said in the press release.

“Specifically, one of the incidents involved the employee hugging a child while placing a palm on the child’s back to press the thumbtack into the child’s shoulder,” officials said in the release.

The licensee allegedly lied to a LARA consultant about their knowledge of the incident, and also failed to report it to the children’s parents or Child Protective Services.

As of 6 p.m. March 6, LARA had ordered Brown Investment Group, which operates ABC Early Learning Center, to discontinue operating a child care center at the Southfield location or any other location.

Along with this, Brown Investment Group may not accept children for care and must inform all parents of the children in care that ABC Early Learning Center has been suspended and will no longer be providing child care.

The case is currently pending with the Michigan Administrative Hearing System.

Officials with the day care did not return a request for comment by press time.